SCHD vs STXD

SCHDASchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

STXDCStrive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF

In short

SCHD The dividend fund that checks the balance sheet before it checks the yield. SCHD only considers companies with 10 straight years of payouts, then ranks the survivors on cash flow, return on equity and dividend growth. Quality gate first, income second, at six basis points.

STXD A young Strive index fund that fishes a 1,000-stock US universe for companies with consistently rising dividends, keeps roughly 220 of them, and pays quarterly. At 0.35% a year, it asks more than the category's cheapest.

Stated mandate

SCHD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100TM Index.

STXD The Fund seeks to track the total return of an index of U.S.-listed equities with consistently growing dividends, before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• SCHD Charges 0.06% a year, near the floor for US equity ETFs and a fraction of what the typical dividend-screen fund costs.schwabassetmanagement.com
• The rulebook is strict: 10 consecutive years of dividends to qualify, then a composite rank on cash-flow-to-total-debt, return on equity, yield and five-year dividend growth.spglobal.com
• Index rules cap any single stock at 4.5% and any sector at 25%, so one hot name cannot quietly become the whole income stream.spglobal.com
• Running since 2011 and now among the largest, most heavily traded dividend ETFs, with tracking that stays very close to its index.

• STXD Growth of the payout, not the size of it: the mandate targets US-listed companies with consistently growing dividends, so a rising-dividend record drives the screen rather than the fattest headline yield.
• Rules-based and roomy: roughly 220 US stocks tracked against the Bloomberg US 1000 Dividend Growth Index, with cash paid out quarterly.
• The 0.35% annual fee is mid-pack for a dividend screen, not boutique-premium pricing.

Worth knowing

• SCHD Roughly 100 names, every one a long-time dividend payer. The fast-growing non-payers that drive much of the US market are not eligible, by design.spglobal.com
• The yield and quality screens tilt it toward mature, cash-generating sectors, so it looks nothing like a total-market fund. Distributions land quarterly, not monthly.spglobal.com
• Not the absolute cheapest shelf item: VIG runs 0.04% and DIVB 0.05%, though both screen for dividends differently.

• STXD Thinly traded and small in assets, so spreads can be less friendly than in the household-name dividend ETFs.
• Fee math is the hurdle: VIG (0.04%), SCHD (0.06%) and DGRO (0.08%) run a fraction of 0.35% while chasing overlapping dividend-growth ground.
• Launched in 2022, so the track record is short, and our review places it in the lower part of a crowded dividend-screen field.

Full SCHD profile⁠

Full STXD profile⁠